It Takes A Village
by WinterSky101
Summary: Leonard finds an abused child at the edge of a battlefield. Of course, he does the rational thing and takes him home.


Leonard and Sara are in the middle of taking down some of Savage's goons in 2063 when Sara hears a child's scream.

Given the way Leonard's head snaps up the sound, Sara thinks he heard it too. Working on an unspoken agreement, both of them angle towards where the scream seems to have come from, moving as quickly as they can. It sounded fairly close, and before too long, they can see a little boy, probably about three years old, cowering away from the fighting around him. One of Savage's men has noticed him and is lowering his blaster, but before he can fire, a blast of ice hits him in the back and he goes down.

Before Sara can do anything, Leonard moves towards the kid. She steps forward, ready to intervene if Leonard's cynical bitterness turns out not to mix well with a terrified three year old, but to her shock, Leonard kneels down in front of the boy, his face gentler than she's ever seen it before.

"Hey, kid," he says, "you okay?"

The little boy stares up at him, eyes wide, then tentatively nods.

"Good," Leonard says. "You got parents around here somewhere?"

The kid nods again.

"Then we'll get you back to them," Leonard says, holding a hand out for the little boy to take. When he does, Leonard pulls them both upright.

"What's your name, sweetie?" Sara asks.

The little boy looks at her, then looks up at Leonard. "She's a friend," Leonard tells him, and if Sara's not mistaken, there's a hint of a smile on his lips.

"James," the little boy whispers, then he buries his face in Leonard's leg. To Sara's amazement, not only does Leonard allow it, but he curls his hand around the back of James's head, a soft gesture of protection.

Since when is Leonard so good with kids?

"Well, James, we're gonna protect you," Sara says. "We won't let anyone hurt you."

Again, James looks up at Leonard for confirmation. "We'll keep you safe," Leonard says. "Just stick with us and you'll be okay."

James nods, and then, to Sara's amazement, Leonard scoops him up and balances him on one hip. "I can fight one-handed better than you can," he tells Sara in response to her undoubtedly shocked look. There's an uncharacteristic hint of defensiveness in his tone. Sara has, of course, been trained to fight with one hand, but she fights better with two, and Leonard technically only needs one hand to fire the Cold Gun. It makes sense that, if one of them were to carry James, it would be Leonard. Sara didn't expect him to actually _do_ it, though, especially not unprompted. Protecting James is one thing, and so is managing to stop being a jerk long enough to comfort him, but picking James up and letting him throw his little arms around Leonard's neck, clinging to him as tightly as possible? Sara definitely wasn't expecting _that_.

James buries his face in the crook of Leonard's shoulder when they start fighting again, his grip tightening. "Keep your eyes closed," Sara hears Leonard tell him quietly. "We'll take care of this."

They do, of course. They've fought Savage's goons enough times that Sara thinks she at least could fight them in her sleep. Even still, she guards Leonard a little more than she usually does during this fight. Normally, she can trust Leonard to watch his own back - no matter how many allies he has around him, Sara has noticed he never relaxes his guard even a fraction unless Mick is there, and even then he doesn't seem to fully trust anyone but himself - but considering there's a kid involved, Sara is definitely more hyperaware of her surroundings than usual. Judging by the tension she can see in Leonard's shoulders, she thinks he probably feels the same way.

When the last of Savage's goons falls, Leonard lowers his Cold Gun and tells James quietly, "It's over. You can look now." James does, peeking around. Sara's not sure he should really be looking at the bodies that litter the ground, but it's too late for that now.

"We should find your parents," Sara says gently. "Were you here with your mom or your dad?"

"Daddy," James whispers, still holding on tightly to Leonard, who makes no moves towards putting him down.

"What does he look like?" Sara asks.

"Tall," James whispers. "An' Daddy's really strong."

"Okay," Leonard says. "We'll find him, kid, don't worry."

They start moving away from the thick of the battlefield and towards the edges, where some people are beginning to peek out. Leonard still doesn't put James down. When this is all over, Sara is definitely going to give him hell over being such a softy when it comes to kids. She's never gonna take his "I'm a cynical jerk who doesn't care about anyone or anything" shtick seriously again.

"Do you see your dad?" Leonard asks James, scanning the crowd. Sara does the same, although she doesn't really know what she's looking for. The only descriptors they have are tall and strong, and Sara's pretty sure most men would look tall and strong to a three year old.

"Is James's father here?" she asks the crowd loudly. Even if he's not, she assumes one of these people will probably know who he is, so that'll be a start.

Sure enough, an older woman points off to the left and says, "I saw him over that way."

"Thank you," Sara says as Leonard starts heading in the indicated direction.

The man they eventually get led to _does_ look tall and strong, even to Sara. He also doesn't look particularly happy. "James," he demands, "where the hell were you?" He looks up at Leonard and Sara and demands, "Give me my kid."

Something about the man rubs Sara the wrong way, and she assumes Leonard feels the same, judging by how slowly he sets James down. Once James is on the ground, his father grabs him by the arm and pulls him closer in a single rough yank. He _could_ be acting like this because he was worried for his son, but... Well, Sara doesn't feel like that's quite right.

"You can leave," James's father says, looking at both Leonard and Sara with derision. Sara would think that saving the man's son would get them some points in his book, but apparently not.

"It was nice to meet you, James," Sara says, waving goodbye.

"Watch out for yourself," Leonard adds. He somehow looks even more tense than he did during the fighting. It seems to take effort for him to turn away, but he does, and he and Sara start heading back towards the ship.

"What the hell were you thinking, running away from me?" Sara hears James's father hiss. "You little brat, where the hell did you think you would go?"

"I was scared-" James protests, and then there's the unmistakable sound of a slap.

Next to her, Sara sees Leonard's face go white.

He turns around before Sara's even fully aware of what's happening, and in a heartbeat, the Cold Gun is out and pointing at James's father. "Actually," Leonard says, his normal drawl undercut by clear fury, "I've changed my mind. I'm taking the kid back."

"_Leonard_!" Sara hisses, but Leonard ignores her. Sara knows she hasn't known him that long, but she's never seen him look like this. There's no doubt in her mind that, if it comes down to it, Leonard will pull the trigger.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" James's father demands. "The kid is _mine_-"

"A piece of shit like you doesn't deserve a kid," Leonard retorts, his voice clipped.

"How dare-"

The Cold Gun whines, and James's father shuts up.

"James," Leonard says, his voice as tense as his body as he gestures at the reddening bruise developing on James's face. "Your dad do that a lot?"

James looks at his father, terror clear in his eyes, then he looks back at Leonard and nods.

Sara abruptly hopes that James's father gives Leonard a reason to pull the trigger.

Leonard's jaw works. "Got any siblings?"

James shakes his head.

"What about your mom?"

"Gone," James says in a very small voice.

Leonard nods, then he bends down until he's at eye level with James, Cold Gun still pointing at James's father. "I meant it when I said I'd keep you safe," he says. "And that includes from him. But it's your choice if you want to come with us or not."

There's a long moment of silence. James looks up at his father, and then over to Leonard and Sara. Despite the fact that they're the ones who just beat up a bunch of people, and despite the Cold Gun in Leonard's hand, there's more fear in James's eyes when he looks at his father.

Slowly, he walks towards Leonard and throws his arms around his neck again.

In a smooth movement, Leonard scoops James up and places him on his hip again. "You put my kid down!" James's father yells, taking a step forward, but before he can do anything else, a blast of ice hits the ground right at his feet.

"Take another step," Leonard says, "and the next shot won't miss."

James's father stands still, stewing in his own impotent fury, as Leonard stalks off, James still on his hip and clinging to him. Sara follows them back to the ship, wondering what the hell Leonard is planning to do next.

"Ah, Miss Lance, Mr. Snart," Rip says as they step onto the ship. "I trust there were no-" He stops abruptly, staring at Leonard and James. "Who is that?"

James buries his face in Leonard's neck.

"This is James," Leonard says, and then he walks off the bridge without another word. Rip stares at his retreating back, then turns to Sara.

"What the hell happened out there?"

Sara shrugs helplessly. "I think we just kidnapped a kid."

* * *

Sara turns out to have limited information as to what exactly is going on with the child on Snart's hip, so Rip decides he has to go directly to the source. Snart and the child are in the med bay, where Gideon appears to be giving the boy a checkup. He looks about three years old, and there's a bruise on his cheek. He's clearly nervous about the ship and everything that's going on, but to Rip's surprise, he seems to be looking to Snart for reassurance. Even more surprisingly, Snart appears to be giving it. It's almost sweet, Rip thinks, then he pushes aside any paternal feelings and forces himself to focus on the problem at hand.

"Mr. Snart. A word?"

"Knew you'd show up eventually," Snart sighs. "Here to yell at me, Rip?"

Rip is, actually, but he'd prefer not to do it in front of the child. "Shall we go outside?"

Snart sighs again, but he starts towards the door. Before he gets very far, though, the boy's hand shoots out and grabs his sleeve. He looks scared. To Rip's surprise, Snart doesn't pull away; he bends down a little so he's at eye level with the boy and says, in a gentler voice than Rip thinks he's ever heard from Snart, "I promised you I'd keep you safe, James, and I'm not breaking that promise. I just have to go talk to Rip here for a minute, then I'll be back. And Gideon will be here with you, right, Gideon?"

"Indeed I will, Mr. Snart," Gideon says. The boy doesn't seem surprised by her disembodied voice, so this must not be the first time he's heard her speak. He still doesn't seem entirely comfortable, though; his grip on Snart's sleeve doesn't loosen.

"Gideon," Snart says, "any way you could have a bit more of a presence here? So James knows he's not alone."

"I think I know just the thing," Gideon says, and a moment later, a holographic image of a woman flickers into view. Rip tries not to let his shock appear on his face. He could probably count the amount of times he's seen Gideon pull up an entire holographic form on one hand, and here she is, doing it for some child Snart dragged onto the ship? Rip hopes Gideon isn't becoming fond; there's no way they can keep this boy, and Rip has the feeling that argument will be hard enough if it's just Snart he's fighting. Gideon is normally obedient, but occasionally she can get contrary, and Rip hates arguing with her when she does. She has the irritating tendency to fight dirty.

One of Snart's eyebrows twitches upwards at Gideon's hologram, but he doesn't say anything. "I'll be right back, and Gideon will be here the whole time," he tells the boy, and finally, the boy's grip on his sleeve loosens. Snart offers the boy a flash of what Rip would call a smile if it were on anyone else's face, then he turns to Rip and follows him out of the med bay. Any smile that Rip may or may have not seen is gone; Snart's face is as hard as Rip has ever seen it. Rip takes a deep breath to prepare for the fight that is undoubtedly to come.

"Miss Lance told me some of what happened," Rip says. "According to her, you decided to take it upon yourself to rescue this child after seeing his father hit him. I must admit, I wouldn't expect you of all people to play the hero, Mr. Snart."

"If you think someone has to be a hero to want to help a hurt kid, that would explain a lot about you," Snart says dryly.

"Regardless," Rip says, ignoring the slight, "you must know this isn't possible."

"Says who?" Snart demands, his voice immediately dropping into a snarl.

"Do you realize how much damage kidnapping this child could do to the timeline?"

"Damage to the timeline can be fixed," Snart retorts. "The kind of damage James's dad was doing to him doesn't fix so easy."

"Mr. Snart-"

"I told James I would keep him safe," Snart says. "I'm not breaking that promise."

"I have pills that induce short-term amnesia," Rip says. "We can give one to the boy and one to his father, and they won't remember-"

"No," Snart says, and the look on his face tells Rip he's probably going to be very paranoid about what he eats for a while. Rip won't deny that the idea of giving Snart a pill as well has crossed his mind, but then he'd have to give one to Sara too, since she undoubtedly wouldn't keep quiet, and the rest of the team would be furious if they found out, so it wasn't worth the risk. No, in this fight Rip will have to appeal to Snart's logical side, which is proving more difficult than he'd expected it to be. Snart is normally a fairly logical person, and he's less prone to fits of sentiment than many of the others. This is the type of thing Rip would expect from Ray, maybe, or Kendra, but not Snart.

"Mr. Snart," Rip tries again. "Doing this could cause untold damage to the timeline-"

"Then it's a good thing we have someone to tell us exactly what that damage is," Snart says. "Gideon, how much did the timeline change after I took James?"

"Any changes were so small as to be imperceptible," Gideon reports.

"Wait, _what_?" Rip demands. "Gideon, how is that possible?"

"In the original timeline, James dies in less than a year," Gideon explains.

Snart's jaw sets. "I'm making the executive decision _not_ to let that happen. Non-negotiable, I'm afraid."

The hand on the Cold Gun gives Rip an idea of what'll happen if he tries to negotiate anyway.

"I-"

"Don't try to test me right now, Rip," Snart snarls, then he turns on his heel and stalks back into the med bay.

Rip looks at the closed door and sighs. He has the distinct impression Snart would have slammed the door if he could. He has to admit, it seems like Snart's rashness wasn't as bad as it could have been, but...

"Gideon, are you certain Snart's actions haven't affected the timeline? Were there any reactions to the boy's death, or new ones to his kidnapping?"

"Negative, Captain," Gideon reports. "As I said, the timeline appears functionally unchanged."

Rip pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs again. "I'm going to have to let Snart keep the child, aren't I?"

"It would be my suggestion, Captain," Gideon agrees.

Rip might be reading into things too much, but he thinks she sounds a little smug.

Well. Perhaps Rip should bring the team to pay a visit to his mother. He's sure she wouldn't mind another child.

* * *

To get from the bridge to Kendra and Ray's room, they have to pass the med bay. This is something Kendra knows, but she's never thought much about it. It's just a fact of life on the ship, and far from the most interesting one.

But today, as she and Ray walk past the med bay, Snart steps out, and he's got a little boy asleep in his arms.

Ray stops dead in shock, but Kendra takes a step forward. "Snart? Is that a _kid_?"

"Excellent observation skills," Snart drawls, shifting the child a little. The boy lets out a quiet sigh and snuggles into Snart more, and Snart, wonder of wonders, allows it.

"Why do you have a kid?" Ray asks. "Oh my god, did you kidnap him?"

"Only technically."

Ray gapes. "Wait, are you serious? You kidnapped a kid?"

"The kid's name is James," Snart says. "And Gideon and Rip have already signed off on it, so no take-backs."

"You _kidnapped_ a _kid_?" Ray repeats, looking horrified, but Kendra has the feeling there's more to the story. Snart is a thief, yeah, but kidnapping? That doesn't seem quite his style.

"Why did you kidnap him?" she asks warily.

"Finally, someone's asking the right questions," Snart says. "His piece of shit dad hit him."

Ray looks shocked, but Kendra... Well. She's been alive for four thousand years, give or take. Statistically speaking, it would be more surprising if she _hadn't_ encountered abusers. She's had over two hundred sets of parents, two hundred families, and there were some that were nicer than others.

"Did you kill him?"

Snart makes a noise that almost sounds like a laugh, but not quite. "No. But I can always go back."

"I would not suggest doing so, Mr. Snart," Gideon says. "Killing James's father would affect the timeline more than is acceptable."

"Isn't that the whole point of this enterprise?" Snart asks dryly, but his posture is relaxed - well, as relaxed as Snart gets, anyway - and Kendra doesn't think he's going to go out and kill anyone. Not now, at least.

"So," Ray asks, "what are you going to do with him? Uh, James, right?"

"Still putting together a plan," Snart says. "I'll tell you when it's done."

"I can help, if you need it," Kendra offers. She's had a few children over the years, and while she doesn't remember all of those lives, she remembers enough. She remembers raising Aldus, cuddling him when he was no bigger than James is now. Even now, seeing little James is enough to make a part of her long for a baby of her own. It's a bad idea, she knows that, but part of her wants anyway.

"Might take you up on that offer," Snart says. "Not sure who else on this rig I'd trust to babysit."

"I could babysit," Ray offers immediately.

Snart gives him a look. "Not sure about that."

"I could!"

"Would you trust Mick?" Kendra asks, aware that maybe she shouldn't. Snart's bruises have faded, but she's pretty sure they haven't faded from his memory yet.

"Not without supervision," Snart says promptly, so promptly it almost sounds like he's prepared for the question. "You should have seen the shit he let Lisa get away with when she was younger. Not quite this young, but still. Mick's terrible at saying no to kids."

"Lisa?" Ray asks.

"My sister," Snart says. "Nine years younger. Pain in the ass."

Despite his words, Kendra knows his sister must be important to him; she's never heard Snart speak in such a fond tone about anyone else. She doesn't think Snart has ever volunteered this much information about himself, actually, and Snart must be thinking the same thing, because he shifts James in his arms and says, "We'd better be going."

"Remember, if you need help with babysitting, just ask," Kendra says.

Snart smirks a little. "I get the feeling you want me to ask."

Kendra shrugs. "I might."

Snart's smirk grows, then he vanishes down the hall. Kendra and Ray look at each other. Ray is clearly still a little shocked, but to be honest, Kendra doesn't blame him. She didn't really expect any of them to apparently adopt a child, and if she _had_ had to pick a Legend to do it, it wouldn't have been Snart.

Then again, Kendra reflects, thinking about the way Snart talked about his little sister, maybe she doesn't know him as well as she thought she did.

"Wow," Ray says, looking at Kendra with big eyes. "I didn't expect _that_."

"I don't think any of us did," Kendra agrees. "But Snart did seem like he cared about the kid, and it sounds like his dad was bad news, so..."

"Oh, I don't have a problem with it," Ray says quickly. "It's just... unexpected."

"How much of a fit do you think Rip pitched?" Kendra asks, unable to keep from grinning a little at the mental image.

"I mean, Snart said both Rip and Gideon signed off on it," Ray says uncertainly.

"I bet they did," Kendra agrees. "Eventually."

Ray's brow creases in concern, but apparently he decides it's not worth worrying about, because his face suddenly brightens again. "So do I get to be Uncle Ray?"

"If you can talk Snart into it, sure," Kendra says, voice full of amusement born from the fact that she's almost one hundred percent certain that Snart is _not_ going to sign off on _that._

"Uncle Ray," Ray repeats, beaming, and Kendra decides that maybe she'll help try to bring Snart around on that one.

After all, Auntie Kendra sounds pretty good too.

* * *

When Mick gets on the Waverider and finds Rip in an extremely pissy mood, it immediately brightens his day. And when he asks what's wrong and gets an irritated "Why don't you go ask your partner?" it makes things even better. Whatever Len's done, it's done a great job of annoying Rip, and that's always a good thing in Mick's book.

Then Mick goes to Len's room and, when Len opens the door for him, he sees a little kid sleeping on the bed.

To be honest, he's not that surprised. Len has always tried to deny it, but he's got a soft spot for kids a mile wide. Mick has seen him with Lisa too many times for him to try to pretend otherwise. Mick hadn't exactly been expecting Len to adopt a kid, but considering he has, Mick is guessing the kid's either an orphan or has the sort of parents that Len always claimed were worse. Given that it's Len, Mick is guessing it's the second one. Nothing can make Len abandon one of his plans like seeing a kid get hit.

"So this is what pissed Rip off," Mick says, stepping into Len's room. "I thought he'd be a bigger fan of kids."

"He was worried about his precious timeline," Len drawls, closing the door behind Mick. "But it turns out me rescuing James barely affects it, so he can't use that excuse. The realreason he's worried is that he thinks this will distract me from the mission to save _his _kid, but I don't think he wants to sound like that much of a hypocrite."

"Asshole," Mick grunts. "So the kid's name is James?"

"Yeah," Len agrees, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall next to the bed. He looks tense. Len is always tense, of course, but he looks more tense than Mick would have expected him to be, and his eyes keep jumping from James to Mick. Most people probably wouldn't notice it, but Mick has thirty years of experience when it comes to reading Len's body language. He's on edge, and it's because of Mick. Maybe he's realizing that having a temporal assassin - and one he's already proven he can't beat in a fight - in the same room as a child is a bad idea. Mick wants to tell him he doesn't have to worry, but he's not entirely certain that's true. They're pretty sure all of the Time Masters' programming is wiped from his mind, but Mick knows full well that if it's not, there might not be anything the others can do to stop him in time.

"Cute kid," Mick says.

"Yeah," Len agrees, arms still crossed but back a little less stiff. "And Kendra and Palmer both want to help me take care of him. Especially Kendra. Think she misses being a mom."

"You're gonna let Haircut help with the kid?" Mick asks derisively. "You want him to end up a nerd?"

"I didn't say I was gonna let them help, did I?" Len retorts. "I figure you and I can do most of it."

"Me and you?" Mick repeats. "You want me to help with the kid?"

"It's you or Palmer," Len replies. "Anyway, you did an okay job helping me with Lisa. I figured you could do it again."

"I did better than just an okay job with Lisa," Mick protests, because it's a familiar argument and an easy pattern to fall into. "I take credit for at least half of raising her."

"The worse half," Len says dryly, which is the exact response Mick expected. It's nice to know that some things never change. "You'll need to not let James get away with as much as you let Lisa get away with, though," Len adds.

"What _I _let her get away with?" Mick repeats. "I wasn't the only one who would let her do whatever she wanted."

"But which one of us let her have ice cream for breakfast every time she asked?" Len drawls. "Face it, Mick, you were a pushover. Try not to be quite as much of one with James."

Mick scoffs and rolls his eyes, but even he has to admit that this feels nice. Some things have changed, neither of them are so stupid they can't admit that, but maybe not everything needs to.

"Speaking of which," Len says, "can you stay with James while I go get something to eat? I don't want to leave him alone. Gideon will be here too, but I think there should be a real person, you know."

"You want to leave me alone with the kid?" Mick asks dubiously.

"Gideon will supervise," Len says. "Besides, if you're going to help raise James, you'll need to be alone with him sometimes."

This is a test, Mick thinks, to see if he can be trusted with James. Well, he's determined to pass it.

"I'll keep an eye on the kid," he agrees. "But if he wakes up, I'm calling you."

There's the faintest hint of a smile on Len's lips. "I'll come running."

Maybe, Mick thinks, there aren't that many things that have changed after all.

* * *

"I wish you wouldn't eat that," Stein says, giving Jax's sandwich a dirty look. "It leaves a horrible taste in my mouth for hours."

"Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches are delicious," Jax says, taking a deliberately huge bite. Stein's nose wrinkles in disgust. "Not my problem if you don't like it," Jax adds through a mouth full of fluff.

"Does that have any nutritional value at all?" Stein asks petulantly.

"Peanut butter is good for you," Jax replies.

Stein is clearly about to refute the health benefits of peanut butter, especially when mixed with marshmallow fluff, when Snart walks into the kitchen. Jax immediately perks up, ready to find out if the most recent ship's gossip he's picked up is true.

"Snart! Did you really kidnap a kid?"

"Kidnap is a strong word," Snart drawls as he begins rifling through the cabinets. "I'd call it rescuing."

"Rescuing?" Stein repeats dubiously.

"Kid was in a situation where he was in danger, now he's not," Snart replies. "I think that counts as rescuing."

"Sara said his dad hit him," Jax says. He still remembers what he found out about Snart back when he helped him and Rory steal an emerald; he's pretty sure he knows why Snart wanted to rescue a kid in an abusive situation.

"He's lucky I didn't kill him for it," Snart says coldly.

"I imagine he is," Stein agrees. "And do you intend to keep the child?"

"For now, at least," Snart says. "Do you have any kids, Professor?"

"No," Stein says, and Jax can feel his slight regret at that fact. "I don't suppose you do?"

"Closest I have is my younger sister," Snart replies. "I as good as raised her. Didn't do it on a spaceship, though, so I expect things will be different this time around."

"We can all help out," Jax offers. "I've done a lot of babysitting."

"Mick and I will take care of most of it," Snart says. "But you're not the only person to have volunteered to help."

"It takes a village to raise a child," Stein says in his annoying-but-endearing pompous manner. "We'll all raise this boy together."

"Did you really fight Rip over it?" Jax asks eagerly.

"Fight is a bit of an exaggeration," Snart replies. "We disagreed about it, but Gideon is on my side, so Rip never stood a chance."

"While I'm not entirely sure I would agree with your methods, I believe you did the right thing," Stein says. "No child should be left in a dangerous situation, even if that danger comes from their own parents."

"Especially if that danger comes from their own parents," Snart corrects darkly. He finally stops digging around in the cabinets and pulls out bread, peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff.

"Hey!" Jax says brightly, holding up his sandwich. "We match!"

"Oh, not you too," Stein groans.

"Professor's not a fan?" Snart asks as he starts preparing a sandwich.

"And he complains about my sandwiches leaving a bad taste in his mouth," Jax agrees. "I even keep kosher for him, and he still complains!"

"We're in space, everything is artificial, and thus everything is kosher," Stein groans.

"Yeah, but I did it on Earth too!" Jax protests.

"I used to make this sandwich for Lisa when we had all the ingredients," Snart says. "It was one of her favorites."

"Feeling nostalgic?" Stein asks knowingly.

Snart gives him a look as he finishes making his sandwich and begins making a second one. Jax wishes Stein could learn to keep his mouth shut, especially around the more murderous members of the team. Not that Jax thinks Snart would actually kill any of them, but still.

"When can we meet the kid?" Jax asks, trying to smooth over the awkward moment. "And what's his name?"

"His name is James," Snart says. "And I'll introduce him to everyone after he wakes up from his nap."

"Can't wait!" Jax says, and Snart smirks at him a little before leaving the kitchen with his sandwiches on a plate.

"Do you think any of us should truly be trusted with a small child?" Stein asks after a moment.

"Probably not," Jax says. "But between the eight of us, we can't be _too_ bad, can we?"

"It takes a village," Stein repeats with a long-suffering sigh. "We may be an... unconventional village, but we'll manage."

"Assuming Snart really lets us help."

"That's... not a bad point."

Jax chuckles. "Well, the kid's never gonna be bored."

"If I know anything about small children," Stein says, "I don't think we ever will be either."

* * *

James is still sleeping when Len gets back to his room. Mick is sitting at the table, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, but he looks up when Len enters.

"Kid's been sleeping peacefully," he reports. "Did you bring any food for me?"

Len takes his sandwich off the plate and slides the other over to Mick. He snorts. "Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff? Who are you, Lisa?"

"I'm feeling nostalgic," Len drawls, because as little as he liked the professor's comment, it wasn't wrong. "Sue me."

Mick shrugs and takes a bite out of his sandwich. Len sits down across from him and looks around his room. He'll need to get another bed somehow, since he doubts he and James can share the narrow bunk comfortably. He could also move into a room with a bigger bed, but it would probably be easier to bring a toddler bed in here. He doubts James will want to have his own room just yet, and Len doesn't mind sharing.

"Promised I'd introduce the kid to everyone after he woke up," Len finally says. "Stein and Jax offered to help take care of him. Apparently, Jax has done a lot of babysitting."

"You planning on taking them up on the offer?" Mick asks.

"Well, we're not always going to be on the ship, are we?" Len asks. "Jax won't be too bad. He's a good kid."

Mick shrugs. "Most of them aren't that bad. Wouldn't leave him alone with Rip, though."

"Absolutely not," Len agrees. "But I think Rip understands what'll happen to him if he does anything to James. I made my point pretty clear earlier."

"I'll make my own point too," Mick says. "Might as well."

"The others can help, though," Len says. "Although we can't leave James with Palmer or Stein for too long or he'll start spouting science facts at anyone who stands still long enough."

Mick snorts. "We don't need another nerd on this ship."

Len opens his mouth to reply when James makes a little noise and shifts in the bed. His eyes open, and he immediately shrinks in on himself, looking terrified.

"Hey," Len says quickly, going over to the bed and crouching down in front of James. He keeps a careful distance so he doesn't accidentally end up cornering the kid, and he makes sure his hands are completely visible. "You're okay, kid. Remember the ship I brought you on? We're in my room on it now. You fell asleep while Gideon was looking you over, and I brought you in here."

James looks at him with only a hint of wariness in his eyes, then he catches a glimpse of Mick and shrinks back again. "This is Mick," Len says, waving Mick over. Mick has been around abused kids enough that he knows the drill; he stays behind Len, makes sure his hands are visible, and doesn't make any fast movements. "Mick is my partner. He might look scary, but he's really a big softie. We're both gonna keep you safe, okay, kiddo?"

James looks warily from Len to Mick, then he slowly nods. "Okay," he whispers, his voice just barely audible.

Len smiles, trying to make sure it doesn't end up coming out threatening, the way his smiles often tend to turn out. "Do you wanna meet the other people on this ship? You can see Sara again, remember her? And everyone else is excited to meet you."

"We don't have to if you don't want to," Mick adds. "Your choice."

Len nods. "Your choice, James."

For a moment, James is silent, then he says, "Will you stay with me?"

"For as long as you want," Len promises. "We won't leave you alone."

James slowly climbs out of bed. "How many other people are there?"

"Six," Len replies. "And they're all nice. Well, mostly." His opinions on Rip are perhaps a bit more negative, but he doesn't think Rip will actually do anything to James, so there's no point in scaring him. "None of them will hurt you. I won't ever let anyone hurt you again."

James sidles over to Len and puts his hands up, and Len immediately scoops him up onto his hip. "We can meet them," James says quietly.

"Alright," Len agrees. "Gideon, can you tell everyone to meet us on the bridge?"

"Very well, Mr. Snart," Gideon agrees.

"You ready, kiddo?" Len asks James.

James nods. "I'm ready."

"Alright," Len says, "let's go."

_It takes a village to raise a child,_ Stein said. Len's never put much stock in the expression; he and Mick raised Lisa just fine between the two of them, no village necessary. But this time around... Honestly, he's not sure eight people is enough to consider a village, but he does know that they're probably all going to end up raising James together. And, to his surprise, he finds he's okay with that.

"Here we go," he says quietly, shifting James's weight on his hip a little, and then he heads for the bridge.

It's time for the village to meet the child.


End file.
